A motley flotilla of "little ships" has successfully reenacted the voyage across the English Channel which turned the tide of history.

The ships taking part in a commemoration of the 1940 Dunkirk rescue mission greeted cheers and music from the French port's dockside with their own chorus of blaring horns.

A day late, due to bad weather, their crews had a brief taste of what Winston Churchill called a "miracle of deliverance" in Britain's hour of need.

The daring rescue saved 338,000 soldiers

Guided by the frigate HMS Somerset, they had taken between six and eight hours to follow a journey which helped save 300,000 lives 60 years before.

Merchant vessels moved aside or slowed in respect as the boats negotiated the world's busiest shipping lane at just seven miles an hour.

A Mark IX Spitfire made four fly-pasts, bringing cheers from war veterans and boat crews of the 60 historic vessels, many of which have not been back to the port since the British and Allied soldiers were rescued from the advancing German armies.